In the first series of what is surely many more to come, four Ethiopian soldiers have been convicted of crimes committed against civilians in the Tigray, three of rape and one of murder. Waiting on trial behind them are twenty-eight more soldiers charged of murder and twenty-five charged of rape. After months of accusations of Ethiopian atrocities in Tigray, these serve as the first judicial responses to the ever-growing list of horrors springing up in the region. The Ethiopian government, however, remains silent in regards to the extent of the crimes committed by their soldiers, with both the Ethiopian attorney general and military spokesman declining to answer any questions given to them by the press. This silence on the part of Ethiopia has caused backlash from the international community, with the EU suspending its financial support for the region after the many reports of atrocities committed in the region by Ethiopian forces.
The Tigray region fell into chaos six months ago as the Ethiopian military waged action against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the then de facto ruling party of the region. Eritrea soon came to the aid of Ethiopia, despite the troubled history between the two nations. According to the United Nations, since the outbreak of this conflict, human rights abuses and possible war crimes have been committed on each side. U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, claimed last month that Eritrea was committing crimes against humanity in the region.
From the outside perspective, this is an exceedingly complex conflict to evaluate. Compounded on top of the conflict with the TPLF and Ethiopia is the strange, almost clandestine, relationship between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the details of which are tremendously murky. Their common interest seems to lie in their common enemy, the TPLF. However, the militaries of both countries seem disturbingly at ease with the casual extrajudicial killings of Tigray citizens, associated with the TPLF or not.
The open question at the moment is how exactly the international community will respond to these accusations of crimes against humanity.